The Penn Genome Frontiers Institute (PGFI) and the Penn Microarray Facility are pleased to announce the acquisition of an Illumina Solexa Genome Analyzer, version GA-II. The Genome Analyzer system is powered by Illumina Sequencing technology, which uses a massively parallel sequencing-by-synthesis approach to generate billions of bases of high-quality DNA sequence per run; this system can perform tens of millions of sequencing reactions in parallel at less than 1% of the cost of capillary-based methods (www.illumina.com/pages.ilmn?ID=204).

This state-of-the-art analyzer also includes a paired-end module, allowing extra sequencing runs from the opposite end of the template. Applications of this technology include discovery and quantitation of RNA transcripts and microRNAs, sequence-tag counting from libraries of genomic DNA fractions, and targeted resequencing to identify genetic variants.

Researchers interested in utilizing the Illumina Genome Analyzer for high-throughput sequencing, should contact Dr. Don Baldwin at (215) 898-3675 or dbaldwin@mail.med.upenn.edu. Prices are based on a combination of Microarray Facility labor and reagent fees. A discount is available for all PGFI members. Information about using the Facility is available at www.med.upenn.edu/bmcrc.